The present invention relates to non-lethal projectiles that are filled with a flowable payload and designed to rupture upon impact with a target.
Non-lethal projectiles containing a flowable payload are basically used in three fields: the field of non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles, the field of non-lethal chemical projectiles and the field of marker projectiles.
Some projectile geometries were already proposed, trying to overcome simultaneously the following major problems:
a) keep the projectile's integrity during the feeding and firing procedures;
b) be stable in flight, hitting nose first;
c) rupture upon impact, causing controlled damage to the target.
In the field of non-lethal chemical projectiles, the U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,960 B2 describes a frangible projectile that ruptures upon impact, omnidirectionally dispersing an inhibiting powder payload. The impact creates a cloud of inhibiting powder substance over the target.
In the field of marker projectiles, U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,358 B2 describes a marking projectile comprising an outer casing that unseals upon impact, allowing the marking payload to flow forward via inertial effect.
Applicable in the three fields, it is known the U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,183, which describes a projectile with flowable payload that is built in two parts: a soft cap and a stronger base witch plugs the reward end of the cap. Longitudinal grooves and a thinned nose extremity facilitate the rupture upon impact.
Another patent applicable in the three fields is U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,164, of a non-penetrating projectile with flowable payload. The projectile contains a plurality of stress concentrator points which fracture, collapsing the whole projectile's structure when it hits a target.
It's also known the U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,699 B2 of a liquid filled projectile that have a two parts rupturing mechanism: a nose cap with a plurality of slits that open upon impact, and an obturating disc that keeps a flowable payload encapsulated and ruptures allowing the payload to flow through the opened slits of the nose cap.
In the three fields, what is expected from these projectiles is to have, at the same time, an external ballistics closer as possible to common lead core projectiles and an impact that do not cause lethal damages to the target. It means that these projectiles must combine a high maximum effective range with acceptable impact energy and almost zero penetration in living targets.